Donald Duke to appeal court decision which nullified his candidacy as presidential aspirant

FORMER Cross River State governor Donald Duke has said he will appeal the high court judgement that removed him as the presidential candidate of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and offered the ticket to ex-information minister Professor Jerry Gana.

Yesterday, an Abuja federal high court nullified Governor Duke's selection as the SDP's flagbearer in next year's presidential elections. Agreeing with Professor Gana's argument, the court ruled that Governor Duke should not have been elected by the party's October convention as the SDP had zoned the position of presidential candidate to the north.

Agreeing with the argument, the court proceeded to rule that Professor Gana was the bonafide SDP candidate, having scored the highest number of votes among its candidates of northern extraction. Justice Hussein Baba-Yusuf thus ordered the SDP to forward Professor Gana’s name to the Independent National Electoral Commission, (Inec) as its candidate for the 2019 general elections.

Justice Baba-Yusuf ruled: “In this instance, the party’s chairman, Chief Olu Falae, is from the south and Duke is from the south too but the law is clear and there is nothing to write in-between. The law has crystallised that political parties should abide by the regulations which they have made by themselves.

“The claimant laid sufficient evidence to have the judgment in his favour as this is a clear violation of the party’s constitution and the court cannot wave right over illegality. Duke’s votes are declared null and void and Gana was the winner of the election."

In a swift reaction, Governor Duke said: “While we await a copy of the judgement for a detailed review, it is imperative we reiterate our constitutionally-backed belief. Every Nigerian who meets the legal requirement is entitled to contest for the office of the president and any law that seeks to curtail or subvert that right under any guise is unconstitutional, null and void and of no effect.

“The delegates of our great party at its convention in October, overwhelmingly elected me as their presidential flag-bearer, so any attempt to subvert their wishes through the instrumentality of the courts will be challenged. As a law abiding citizen, I urge my supporters and members to remain calm as we are confident that the decision of the court will be upturned on appeal."

He added that he is optimistic that the appellate court will reach a decision that reinforces the essential tenets of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria. Governor Duke added that his optimism was in line with the wishes of members of the SDP.